New campus to help vets, manufacturers

A Colorado Springs campus that trains veterans in manufacturing could soon be in the works, if Blackfox Training Institute sees enough employer interest in its program.

The Advanced Manufacturing Program for Military Veterans teaches courses geared toward the requirements of aerospace and defense manufacturing, Blackfox president and CEO Allen Dill said, and aims to boost the available local workforce by training and certifying veterans transitioning out of the military.

Dill said the “huge gap” in advanced manufacturing skills is a national problem.

“It’s a very limited available workforce that has the skills required for mostly aerospace and defense-type electronic manufacturing,” he said.

Veterans are becoming part of the solution. In Colorado, hundreds transition out of the military every month with the majority seeking civilian careers, Dill said, and they are typically “ready for this type of career position: one that requires dedication and a commitment for a longer-term career path.”

Blackfox has graduated more than 200 veterans since establishing the program in 2013 in Longmont, where the institute has been headquartered for 21 years.

The aim now is to position another campus on or near one of the Springs’ military bases, with teaching to begin late this year.

Blackfox will host an event from 8-10 a.m. June 6 at Mt. Carmel Center of Excellence in Colorado Springs, to provide manufacturing employers with information about the program as well as to gauge employer interest and learn about employer needs.

Dill said the five-week, 200-hour accredited program operates at no cost to the employer or the veteran. Funding comes from federal training grants, and Blackfox is eligible for the G.I. Bill.

Until now, the distance to Longmont’s campus has been a major deterrent for Springs veterans.

“Expecting people from Colorado Springs to commute every day for five weeks is a lot to ask,” Dill said.

He emphasized the program is demand driven; Blackfox only starts teaching when there is “at least a verbal commitment from employers to consider hiring our graduates.”

“The primary intent for our June 6 meeting is to listen to the employers’ interest and hopefully gather enough support to expedite the move in the area,” he said.

Jay Palace, president of Linear Manufacturing, said finding workers with manufacturing and electronic assembly skills in Colorado Springs is a challenge, and the company usually has to provide training.

A program that collaborates with manufacturers and teaches veterans the skills the industry needs could change things, Palace said.

“It would certainly put more people in the workforce that know the [skills]. I deal with engineers that don’t even know how to do any type of assembly,” he said. “They can do design, they can do software, but they don’t know how to do the hard manufacturing — actually putting the part on the board and knowing what it’s supposed to look like.”

Palace said another challenge is that manufacturers are competing with offshore companies in a tight market, so workers entering the industry “have to learn a lot more skill sets than [the basics] in order to compete with the other people that want to make a $40,000- or $50,000-a-year salary.”